Where do these old tropes come from?

19-01-2024 5:30pm #1

Just as you think Ireland has changed.

In a very random conversation about a newish housing development where the average cost of a house would have been around 700k, a person said they are all swapping partners all over the place up there! 'so and so told me it is a well-known fact.

I have been hearing this trope for decades and it is either some estate of expensive houses or it is ex-pats in the UAE or in some council estate in other words it is either the lower orders or those who can afford 700k for a 3-bed semi.

so why are tropes like that so persistent?

tabby aspreme · 19-01-2024 5:41pm

Hopefully there's someone on here who lived in a council estate, then moved to the UAE, made a few bob, and now lives in a 700,000 3 bed semi who will have all the answers, and it's a plus if there golf club members also, they were always key's in a bowl type's

L1011 · 19-01-2024 6:15pm

Is the estate full of pampas grass in the gardens and decorative pineapples in the windows / on gateposts?

Baba Yaga · 19-01-2024 6:24pm

oh its true...must be because i heard from a friend of a friend of the mrs whos a hairdresser and she heard it from the husband of this guy whos best mates mate heard it from this other dude that works in headquarters in the phoenix park in the building,the one with that lift in it that only goes down who swears that all those estates are under surveilence by you know who...

Calahonda52 · 19-01-2024 6:34pm

Dúirt bean liom go ndúirt bean léi

Seabury in Malahide was called Geebury soon after it was built: lived there and there was a certain cohort of the keys in slit mob

19-01-2024 6:50pm

A salient point in my tale is that the person saying this has purchased a house for a lot less than 700k about 10km away in a less 'prestigious area.

My best guess is that its a very Irish way of putting someone down and that's why it persists.

19-01-2024 6:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121640631#Comment_121640631

Would that not be a bit uncomfortable?

dxhound2005 · 19-01-2024 7:18pm

I heard that it has progressed from the old days of wife swapping. Now unmarried people who live together, and even singles are at it. And cyclists.

EmmetSpiceland · 20-01-2024 8:56am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121640631#Comment_121640631

North county Dublin has always had a “reputation” for swapping and swinging.

I remember being in some grotty bar out in Lusk or Rush, one of those odd places. Could have been Loughshinny, but you get the idea.

Anyway, there was one long table with a number of very loud women and fubsy lads with open shirts, gold chains, a couple of balding heads with ponytails, lots of rings. They played “musical chairs” all evening and, by the end of the night, they were cheek to cheek dancing in the middle of the pub.

Can’t say for sure if they were swingers but would have put money on it, if anyone was giving odds. The only interaction I, personally, had with them was when a couple of the women tried to get me to dance and when one of the lads, a squat stocky chap, looked me up and down and growled ‘you’re a big ****, aren’t ya?’. I laughed, somewhat nervously, and replied ‘yeah, but I’m alright when you get to know me’. He laughed at that and told me I was alright, then went back dancing to the table.

Not sure if “that sort of thing” goes on on the south side to the same degree but, I guess, being somewhat, remote, and very far away from the city, can lead to such “carry on”.

KaneToad · 20-01-2024 9:01am

On a bit of a tangent, I've always wondered about the persistence of racist rhymes. When I was a young primary school kid there was a plethora of these racist rhymes that I knew by heart. I hadn't a clue about their content or even the concept of racism. But nonetheless I was able to rattle of these highly offensive chants.